Fox’s Last Day (Hopefully) Of Smearing CA’s FAIR Education Act

July 15, 2011 6:41 pm ET by Carlos Maza

On
Thursday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 48, the FAIR Education Act, into law. The new law
requires California public schools to teach students about the historical
contributions of gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans. The law also
prohibits school teachers from using materials that disparage LGBT Americans
solely on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Fox
News -- with its endless campaign of promoting the “gay
indoctrination” myth -- has spent the last several months campaigning
against the bill. Previous Fox segments have:

During
the July 14 edition of Fox News’ Special Report, host Shannon Bream
promoted the claim that including LGBT history into California’s curriculum was
“sexual brainwashing”:

During
the July 15 edition of Fox & Friends, Gretchen Carlson referenced
“family groups” that claim the measure would “expose kids to material that
their parents don’t want them to hear just yet”:

Over
at the Fox Business Network, the story wasn’t much different. During Friday’s
edition of Varney & Company, host Stuart Varney was intent on
smearing the measure:

Kudos
to guest Tracy Byrnes for pointing out the ridiculousness of Varney’s
objections. Unfortunately, the Fox host would not be deterred from his carrying
out his misinformation campaign. Here’s a quick fact check:

Varney’s Claim: California can’t afford new books.

Reality: New books won’t be required until at least 2015 due to the budget crisis.

Fact: Those groups are already included in the
state’s list of groups that can’t be excluded from history classes. The bill only
adds LGBT people and people with disabilities to that list.

Varney’s Claim: Students won’t know “what followed
what.”

Fact: History books include dates of significant
events.

Of
course, Fox’s coverage of an LGBT issue wouldn’t be complete without inviting
at least one member of the Family Research Council (FRC) on the air. The FRC
has been designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which makes
it a perfect Fox News resource for anti-LGBT commentary.

During
the July 15 edition of Fox’s America’s Newsroom, host Alisyn Camerota
invited FRC’s Peter Sprigg to discuss the bill.

You
may remember Sprigg from his earlier work, including recommending exporting gays and lesbians out of the United States,
attempting to link homosexuality to pedophilia,
and supporting “criminal sanctions” against those who engage in “gay
behavior.”

In
other words, he’s a sure thing when it comes to getting anti-LGBT
misinformation on national television:

As
expected, Sprigg rattles off the same right-wing talking points you would hear
about any effort to reduce anti-LGBT bullying in school. After all,
Sprigg has previously argued that the “most effective way” to reduce anti-LGBT
bullying is to have kids stop being gay. Seriously.

And
so concludes Fox’s “fair and balanced” coverage of one of the most significant pieces of pro-LGBT legislation to be
adopted in recent history.

Good
riddance.

UPDATE: Later in the day, a Fox News host called the FAIR Education Act "brainwashing" while a Fox Business Network guest joked that one would have to "turn [historical figures] over" to determine if they were gay.